WWE announced Thursday evening that it has reached a new multi-year deal with NBC that will allow its Monday Night Raw to continue to air in a three-hour block on the USA Network and for Friday Night Smackdown to air on NBC's Syfy Network. In statements released Thursday night, executives from both companies said they were pleased to be able to continue their partnership and estimated that on a weekly basis, WWE programming reaches more viewers than the NBA, NASCAR, MLB, NHL and UFC.

In a separate statement, WWE chairman and CEO Vince McMahon said that given the anticipated increase in television rights, he expects the company's OIBDA (operating income before depreciation and amortization) to fall somewhere between $125 million and $190 million by 2015. With the renewal of the company's television distribution agreements in the U.S., U.K and Thailand, WWE expects to reap $200 million, a $90 million increase over prior television rights agreements.

However, for investors and market analysts alike, the terms of the deal are not nearly impressive enough.

"We estimate management negotiated a +50% increase on the Company’s domestic TV rights Fees with NBCUniversal, meaningfully below the guided multiple of 2X to 3X," wrote Benchmark analyst Mike Hickey in a note Friday morning. Quoting Hulk Hogan -- "To all my little Hulkamaniacs, say your prayers, take your vitamins and you will never go wrong" -- Hickey downgraded WWE's rating from a buy to a hold and cut its price target from $29.12 to $19.96.

"The company’s valuation could take a heavy beating this morning, as the new domestic TV deal with NBCU likely disappointed investors over limited visibility and believability on the ultimate success of the network," Hickey said.

Of additional concern: the company's WWE Network -- McMahon's attempt to bring wrestling "over the top," industry speak for online streaming -- needs to add 1.3 million to 1.4 million global subscribers in order to offset the Network's cannibalization of WWE's pay-per-view revenue, but first quarter subscriber numbers indicate that the Network has gained just 670,000, results that put the company on track for an operating income loss.

"The rate of subscriber adoption is a critical determinant of the company’s projected future financial performance," WWE said Thursday evening, going on to project that if the WWE Network achieves 1 million subscribers by year-end 2014, it would yield a 12-month average of 650,000 subscribers for the year. This, in turn, would translate to an estimated full-year OIBDA loss ranging from $35 to $45 million and a full-year net loss ranging from $45 to $52 million.

These initial results are consistent with predictions from Intrepid Capital's Jayme Wiggins, who in January unloaded a 10% stake in WWE (at 100% profit) and in March told FORBES, "The network is a slam dunk for a die-hard fan, but I don’t think it’s going to be easy for them to get another 500,000.”

Maggie McGrath is a staff writer at Forbes who is responsible for covering - and helping to oversee our coverage of - the food and drink industry. She edits the 30 Under 30 Food/Drink list, and helps program the Under 30 Summit and the AgTech Summit. She's worked at Forbes s...